Archive for December 2011

I did a double-blink this morning while reading this on Tennis.com. Ivan Lendl, Mr. Moody, is to coach, Andy Murray, Mr. Pissed Off. Oh, how beautiful! This is a match made in the bowels of tennis hell. You couldn’t make stuff like this up if you tried. I mean, could you?

There were rumors last year that this pairing might mesh. but seriously, how could anyone have taken such a mythical couple seriously? I mean, can you picture the first time Andy Mirthless turns toward Ivan Ugly in the stands and starts doing his habitual moaning and cursing?

I have a match today at 11, against a player from Sarasota, we met by tennisopolis.com a couple of days ago and bang, we’re gonna play already. This is the first time I’ve ever played anyone from that site. Abel says he has trouble finding quality players down here, he’s just moved here from Boston.

We meet at Bayfront Park courts but both courts are filled and we have to wait an hour.

First memory of tennis? Playing with the old wood rackets. Maybe six or seven years old at the time.

Tennis inspiration(s)? You could say that I’m the current caretaker for two-racket tennis – increasingly becoming known as the Two Racket Guy. So when I hear from someone I’ve introduced to the two-racket game and they tell me how much they enjoy playing two-racket tennis, well that is quite a thrill. I’ve received many compliments in this regard…

Flavia Pennetta: “My first match when I was 11 was very funny because I was so nervous on the court. And I went to the hospital, so [laughs]. (Why?) Not so good. I was down like 6-2 and so nervous and they bring me to the hospital.”

Andres Gomez: “I was playing doubles together with Ilie Nastase in Rome in ‘82, we were playing Tomas Smid and Pavel Slozil and Nastase keep talking to them and making fun of them…

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chunakah and Happy New Year to all of you out there in the tennis world. Scoop and I have had a blast interacting with you over everything tennis in 2011 and we can’t wait to start expounding on the upcoming season. We are lucky here at Tennis-Prose.com to have a passionate and knowledgeable band of marauding tennis aficionados on board. I think now of Mike, Michael, Andrew Miller, Harold, Steve, Tom Michael, Mitch, lit, Thomas, Gans and so many others I can’t conjure up now. Thanks for letting Scoop and I start the debate and for so many of your voices to ring out.

Ok, here’s the thing. I get a call from Vince today. I tell him about my rotator cuff operation, my left arm in a sling, and he says in his cowboy voice, “Dang, after 25 years of tennis my arm feels great.” That’s Spadea, for you, rubbing it in, but at the same time, honestly concerned about my shoulder. Asking me if I really needed the surgery because for a guy who played 21 years on the tour (1991-2011) and never had any surgery, letting a doctor cut you up doesn’t sound wise. I have my reservations, too.

Scoop Malinowski was requested to do this wide-ranging interview with the popular Polish web site: www.Love4tennis.pl…

Q: During your job while you were interviewing tennis players which person were impressed you the most and why?

“That’s a hard question to answer because so many of the players are extremely intelligent…some that stand out: Ljubicic, Nadal, Federer, Zvonareva, McEnroe, Djokovic, Agassi, Santoro, Tracy Austin, Roddick, Vilas, Hingis, Evert, Seles. I think all the top players in ATP and WTA are very smart, it’s not just physical ability that propels them to the top but also their intelligence to play the right tactics and behave like a champion.”

It’s less than one month away before the first slam of the year. The Aussie Open opens Down Under on Jan. 17th, and Madison Keys and Jesse Levine will be in the Main Draw. The Americans won the wild-card entry event played in Norcross, Ga. this past weekend, beating Gail Brodsky (sounds like a psycho-therapist’s name, but I guess she can play tennis, too) and Robby Ginepri, respectively, in the finals.